


When Tomorrow Is Today

by tjstar



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, First Kiss, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Underage Drinking, josh tries to friendzone him, spoilers oh yeah, tyler is hopelessly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 01:18:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8081068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjstar/pseuds/tjstar
Summary: Maybe, Josh just has to admit that his childhood friend has turned to a pretty attractive guy. And he’s clingy as fuck.





	

“Josh, wait!”

Josh stops near his locker and closes his eyes tightly, counting to ten. He’s had a pretty rough morning: oversleeping, burnt toast and stuff included, so loud footsteps behind his back sound almost menacingly. Yeah, Josh knows pretty well how floral Vans sound as they hit the floor, he can recognize them even in the crowded hallway.

“Josh!”

Josh sinks his teeth into his bottom lip so hard his lip ring almost tears the skin apart. He takes a deep breath and turns to the oh-so-familiar voice.

“Hey, Tyler,” he croaks out, doing the secret handshake with his _best_ — he cringes when he thinks of this word — friend.

Tyler repeats that way too often.

“Hey. I was just worried,” Tyler wipes his palms on his pants. “Wanna talk about yesterday evening,” he explains apologetically. “I thought you were going to stay for a night?”

Well, ‘the sleepover thing’ is one of those things best friends are obligated to do. And yes — Josh was going to spend the night at Tyler’s place, eating tacos and playing videogames. Seriously. It was perfectly fine in the beginning, but then Tyler decided to change his clothes (read: undress. In front of Josh). Josh had no clue what Tyler was thinking about, standing in the center of his room wearing only his boxers and asking Josh something like ‘will it be okay if I sleep like this?’

Josh kind of felt like shoving his hand down his pants. Stupid hormones. 

Josh now hates himself for not just saying ‘yes’, because his own behavior was too damn suspicious when he blushed like a ripe tomato and tossed Tyler’s shorts and t-shirt back at him. Because Josh hadn’t planned to spend the night with more than just half-naked Tyler. No way. It would’ve been a totally normal thing if they were eight year olds, but not now when they’re almost eighteen, and they even have some facial hair and muscles.

Tyler couldn’t understand Josh’s confusion.

Josh couldn’t stop thinking of that even when Tyler pulled his shorts back on. So the sleepover didn’t seem so innocent and appealing anymore.

And now, Josh has to deal with Tyler again and try not to fool himself. Or maybe, Josh just has to admit that his childhood friend has turned to a pretty attractive guy. And he’s clingy as fuck.

“Josh?” Tyler snaps his fingers in front of Josh’s blank face. “Earth to Josh?”

“I had to do my homework,” Josh blurts out. _‘I was about to get a boner,’_ Josh’s inner voice corrects him, causing his ears to burn.

“But… We could do your homework together,” Tyler huffs out.

“Yeah,” Josh agrees immediately. “We’ll do it together next time.”

“Fine!” Tyler smiles warmly, brightening up. “I’ll come tonight, we’ll order some pizza, and then…”

“Yeah, sounds awesome,” is all Josh says. _‘Just please, keep your pants on,’_ Josh thinks unwillingly.

Anyway, Tyler is his closest neighbor, and sometimes he just materializes in Josh’s room without warning — Tyler just climbs in through the open window.

Josh thinks he has to concentrate on playing the drums instead of interacting with Tyler.

 

***

Tyler writes lots of poetry, some dark pieces of art, suicide-themed even. But Tyler doesn’t look like those depressive people with hollow eyes and their mouths pressed into a thin line. Tyler smiles a lot when he’s with Josh, he always laughs at Josh’s silly jokes and keeps calling Josh his best friend.

“Do me a favor and try to ignore as you watch him fall through a blatant trapdoor,” Tyler mutters under his breath, scribbling the lyrics down his notepad.  

They’re sprawled across Josh’s bed, Tyler’s elbow touches Josh’s side each time he moves his arm. Josh rolls over onto his back to avoid any contacts with the parts of Tyler’s body.

“Why do you write it?” Josh asks. He looks over Tyler’s skinny shoulder and only sees chaotically written words with a ton of small notes in the margins.

Tyler’s handwriting is a mess.

“I dunno, sometimes I feel like I’m going to explode. I just need to let it all out, I guess,” Tyler shrugs, biting at his pen. He leans closer to Josh, resting his head on Josh’s chest, and things are getting awkward again.

The fluttering feeling in the pit of Josh’s stomach returns, and he already knows this might lead to very embarrassing consequences.

“Wanna eat something?”

Josh knows he acts like his Mom usually does, but now it’s the only chance to distract Tyler from the bulge growing on the front of Josh’s sweatpants.

“What?” Tyler nearly drops his notepad when Josh shoves him away.

“Are you hungry?”

“No?”

Tyler seems to be dumbfounded by Josh’s concern.

“Come on, let’s go to kitchen, my Mom cooked chicken for the dinner,” Josh literally grabs Tyler by the collar of his shirt and pushes him out of the bed.

“O-okay,” Tyler mutters perplexedly as Josh leads him to the door.

It’s clear that Tyler can’t be hungry after eating four slices of pizza they ordered a half an hour ago; Josh feels horrible for forcing him to eat dinner with his whole family, but whatever. It’s still Tyler, still just friend.

But Tyler probably exudes pheromones or a crap like that.

 

***

Josh is certain that some dudes from his school think he and Tyler are more than just best friends. Josh can feel their weird looks and hear them smirk when he walks down the hallway with Tyler by his side. And honestly, Tyler isn’t helping him at all — he doesn’t even try to mask his happiness when Josh stops to talk to him, to sit next to him during the class, to go to have lunch together.

It has always been this way, since the elementary school, but something has changed; like, Josh starts to notice the way Tyler’s voice gets higher when he’s seeking for attention and talks about his basketball game even though Josh was there, and he’s seen Tyler making a full-court shot like a thousand times during his practices.

“Good job, Ty!” Josh throws his thumb up, earning Tyler’s a bit crooked smile in response.

“My Dad told me the same,” Tyler nods, twisting pasta around the fork. “He said I have a big future. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life sweating on a court,” he grumbles. “Why doesn’t he let me decide?”

Tyler has super strict parents. While staying at Tyler’s house, Josh is afraid he might do or say something wrong and ruin his — or Tyler’s — reputation.

“Because your Dad cares about you?” Josh guesses.

“Yeah,” Tyler chuckles bitterly. “I’m like, the elder son, have to be a good influence,” he agrees without any enthusiasm. “But at least, he doesn’t try to break our friendship, right?”

Josh chokes on his coffee and lets it splatter out of his nose.

 

***

Josh wills himself not to get turned on by Tyler’s scratchy voice or by his accidental touches, but it sneaks in Josh’s dreams anyway, leaving him embarrassed and aroused.

“Am I still your friend?” Tyler catches Josh’s sleeve as soon as Josh goes out of the Chemistry class, drowning in his obsessive thoughts.

“Yeah, Tyler, you’re still my _best_ friend,” Josh repeats it like a mantra. “Don’t worry.”

Tyler grins happily.

 

*** 

On Saturday, Josh wastes his precious time at the party in Jack Barakat’s house. Without Tyler. He hates that.

He’s only had one can of beer and managed to make friends with Jack’s tabby cat, hanging out in the corner by himself. Really, Josh is about to just text Tyler and beg for forgiveness. He lets the purring cat sleep on the brown cushion beside him and shoves his hand into his jeans’ pocket to whip his phone out.

“Hey, Dun!” somebody bawls, distracting Josh from typing a very important message.

There are Mark and Jack, dragging some motionless guy towards Josh; Josh squints his eyes through the flashing lights and notices that the guy is dressed in a familiar shirt with a pineapple print.

What a surprise.

“What?!” Josh shouts. “What is _he_ doing there?”

“I dunno, man,” Jack responds with a half-shrug. “He kind of came, won the drinking game and passed out in the kitchen.”

“I hope he’s still alive,” Mark adjusts Tyler’s limp arm, thrown over his neck.

“Take care of this party animal,” Jack grits his teeth as he helps Mark lay Tyler down onto the couch and prop his head up on Josh’s lap.

Jack and Mark get back to the others while Tyler is so out of everything he doesn’t even care that his shirt is mostly unbuttoned, exposing his chest. Josh kind of feels like a mother hen as he adjusts Tyler’s clothes and tries to make him feel as comfortable as possible in this situation.

Josh taps the beat on the armrest and thinks he has to call a taxi and take Tyler home, but suddenly, Tyler’s lips twitch as he tries to say something. Josh can barely hear him through all the noise.

“Remember… That day when we tried to… to drive my Dad’s car?” Tyler slurs, eyelids flutter open. “I ended up running over a metal fence... And you said to my Dad it was your fault.”

“That’s what friends do,” Josh shrugs.

The memories of that day are still pretty vivid; they were barely sixteen, and Tyler was on the verge of having a panic attack, staring at the scratch on the car’s door and nearly tearing up at the sight.

“You’re my best friend,” Tyler repeats for the millionth time.

“Yeah, yeah,” Josh says soothingly. “I’m your best friend.”

“I love you,” Tyler mutters after a second of deliberation, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position and turning his head to Josh.

“Man, you’re drunk,” Josh attempts to just laugh it off, but a drunk Tyler is apparently even more stubborn person than Tyler’s sober self.

“No, I’m sure… I feel something, you know?” Tyler leans to whisper these words directly in Josh’s ear, his fingers tug at Josh’s dark curls.

Tyler’s alcohol-soaked breath ghosts over Josh’s cheek as Tyler pulls at the front of Josh’s crumpled t-shirt, not letting him scramble away. He is glad that the lights are still dim, and the music is still too loud, pumping through Josh’s ears along with Tyler’s unexpected confession. Josh kind of regrets he’s not as intoxicated as his friend is.

Josh’s first intention is to push Tyler away and call it a night, but a glimpse of pure interest in Tyler’s brown eyes encourages Josh to wait for the climax of the story.

Though, Josh comes back to reality only when Tyler’s tongue is already in his mouth. It’s not just a gentle peck on the lips, no, it’s a deeply-desperate kiss; Tyler’s fingers dig into Josh’s shoulders as he tries to hold him in place. The feeling of guilt hits Josh like a ton of bricks when he finally braces himself to return the kiss, to bite and suck at Tyler’s soft lips, to lick into his mouth and nearly scratch Tyler’s skin with his lip ring.

Josh’s hands trace over Tyler’s sides, squeezing a little baby fat he still has there as Josh kisses him  _hard_.

This lasts for what feels like eternity before Tyler wiggles himself out of Josh’s grasp.

“I hope it won’t kill our iconic friendship,” Josh jokes as he steadies Tyler upright to prevent him from falling off the couch.

“This was so good I’m gonna throw up from excitement,” Tyler replies, wincing queasily. “Or from all that vodka.”

“You’re a good kisser,” Josh says approvingly. Tyler’s words don’t get to his brain until Tyler starts to fidget beside him.

“Yeah, maybe. Josh,” Tyler swallows, pressing his fist to his lips. “It rises up my throat.”

Josh frantically looks around the room, hoping he’ll find a trashcan or an empty bowl to give it to Tyler, but he doesn’t see any available containers except red plastic cups. Tyler’s sweaty skin visibly pales.

“Bathroom?” Josh helps Tyler get up, focusing on not jiggling him too much.

“No bathroom. I heard someone was…” he interrupts himself with a loud gulp. “Was having sex there,” Tyler informs him and promptly closes his mouth shut.

Josh has no choice, so he decides to just lead Tyler out of the house and who knows, maybe he will feel better once he’s out of all that cigarette smoke and stale air. Tyler begins to cough, which turns to a muffled gag into his palm as Josh drags him through the improvised dancefloor, grabbing a small bottle of water from the table as they pass by it.

He shoves Tyler out of the front door, turning away politely while his best friend doubles over and spills his insides into the lush bushes below the railings.

“Feeling better, Ty?” Josh asks sympathetically, looking at Tyler’s hunched shoulders.

“I’m not drinking anymore,” Tyler wheezes out. “Like, never ever again.”

Josh just nods and hands him the bottle of water so Tyler can rinse his mouth and clean the liquid-y mess off his hand.

They sit on the wooden porch step; Josh wants to say something comforting, but all he manages is a-

“How did you get here?”

“I came to you, but your sister told me you were here,” Tyler mumbles, head lolling onto Josh’s shoulder. “Sorry for messing up your wonderful evening.”

“Well, it wasn’t that wonderful,” Josh admits. Tyler wraps his arms around Josh’s neck and presses his cold nose to Josh’s cheek. “Sorry for not telling you.”

He isn’t sure if his apologies reach Tyler’s ears, because Tyler suddenly falls face first onto Josh’s lap, startling him.

“Hey?” Josh prods his friend’s side. “Are you alive?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Tyler deadpans.

“Huh, what?”

Josh thinks he misheard him.

Tyler’s moves are slow and careful like he’s fighting thick night air and gets stuck into it as a result. Though, he finally manages to roll over and Josh sees his eyes, wide and filled up with sincere sadness.

Tyler wrinkles his nose as the ray of light from the lamp above the door catches his face.

“Do you know why I decided to get drunk?”

“Please, enlighten me,” Josh says unflappably. He’s good at masking his emotions.

“Why do some people romanticize coming outs?” Tyler addresses the question to a literal nowhere, immediately continuing his speech. “Alright. Now imagine- I came out to my parents today, and what I’ve got?” he starts to bend his fingers as he counts. “One: tears. A lot of tears. Two: yells. My favorite ones were ‘it’s just a phase’ and ‘Tyler, why don’t you respect us,” he says darkly. “Three: you know what? My parents are going to get me a girlfriend. They think this might _cure_ me.”

Tyler’s voice cracks miserably at the end of the tirade, and he runs his bare forearm across his nose, wiping it and sniffing.

Josh doesn’t know how to react and how to find magical words to fix his upset friend. A part of him wants to hug Tyler, to tell him that the future is going to be bright, but the other part of Josh is terrified. It’s not about Tyler or his sexual orientation, no, it’s about the situation Josh is getting himself involved in. He isn’t interested in pulling a pin on a metaphorical grenade, and Tyler is probably a few seconds away from breaking down right in front of Josh. 

“What are you going to do?” Josh asks cautiously.

“Gonna hang myself,” Tyler shrugs limply. “What? They even asked me about how many guys I’ve slept with.”

Josh can’t fight against a sudden burst of curiosity.

“And?”

“I’m a virgin,” Tyler simply says. “That calmed my parents down a bit. Like, I still have a chance to become a normal man.”

“Oh.”

Josh didn’t know that a drunk Tyler can be so communicative.

“How many girls you’ve slept with, Josh?”

…and he doesn’t have a filter between his brain and his mouth.

“None,” Josh replies through his clenched teeth.

He’s hanging out with Tyler all the time. And Tyler is a professional cockblocker.  

Tyler keeps silent. Josh is about to poke him again and continue their night of confessions, but a millisecond later Josh realizes that Tyler has just fallen asleep with his face pressed against Josh’s thigh, hands still gripping at Josh’s t-shirt.

“Ty,” Josh slaps his cheek gently.

“‘M sleepin’,” Tyler whines, trying to curl into a ball.

“Dude, we’re gonna freeze our asses off,” Josh points out.

“Whatever.”

It’s hard to get up and get rid of Tyler’s weight on Josh’s legs, but he deals with that quite successfully. He just scoops Tyler in his arms and hauls him back into the house, opening the front door with a solid kick.

The party is going on, the smell of booze, weed and sweat hits Josh’s nostrils as he enters the hallway and bumps into a group of boys and girls he’s never even met before. They giggle at an unconscious Tyler, but Josh just rolls his eyes and ignores their comments like ‘go get a room for you two’.

Though, Josh is going to find a room. He urges Tyler to make it upstairs with his eyes half-open and guides him to Jack’s parents’ bedroom. Luckily, it’s empty.

Tyler passes out again as soon as he flops down onto the double bed, so Josh has to take Tyler’s shoes off not to bring any dirt on the bedsheets. Then, Josh kicks his own sneakers off before crawling under the blankets and spooning Tyler.

“I love you,” Tyler mutters, words strangled by the pillow.

This sounds so sincere that Josh suddenly wants to kiss him again.

“I think I love you too,” he whispers in the darkness.

 

***

The morning welcomes Josh with a cat’s purring from the left and with Tyler’s light snoring from the right. Tyler is lying partially on top of Josh, a hand thrown over Josh’s shoulder and their legs tangled together.

Tyler snorts, changing his sleeping position for the millionth time; Josh suddenly finds himself wide awake as he feels something warm and hard rubbing against his thigh. _Crap._  Josh breathes out through his nose loudly as Tyler whimpers and begins to grind against him, eyes still closed. Josh fails at his attempts to fight Tyler’s hand off and shake him awake, so Tyler keeps clinging to him like an octopus. And he’s undoubtedly hard.

“Tyler,” Josh whispers, voice raw.

Tyler shoves his right hand under the blanket; Josh can feel him fumbling with the button on his skinny jeans, popping it open and pulling at the zipper.

“Tyler,” Josh repeats a little louder.

Tyler’s knuckles poke at Josh’s hip as Tyler thrusts his palm down his pants, exhaling unsteadily and nuzzling the side of Josh’s neck.

“Oh shit, don’t do that,” Josh blurts out. The panic floods up his chest, his brain struggles to clue him what to do to ease the awkwardness. Should he push Tyler away? Or maybe… help him? Josh’s imagination kindly shows him a bunch of pretty hot pictures of Tyler dealing with a morning wood right next to him, and Josh reluctantly lowers his hand to his own crotch. He’s already half-hard as well. Great.

Josh finds the courage to lift the blanket up and look under it; he sees that Tyler has just palmed himself through his underwear and keeps sleeping like this. As a good friend, Josh thinks he must save Tyler from coming all over his boxers; Josh pulls at Tyler’s wrist to take his hand off his pants, but a sudden yelp coming from the doorframe makes Josh’s skin crawl.

“Jessie! Jessie, where are you?”

The cat claws at Josh’s cheek with the loudest ‘meow’ in history, sprinting towards the door and jumping into Jack’s hands. At the same time, Tyler creeps away from Josh, tucking the blanket all around himself and pretending he didn’t try to get off in his sleep like two minutes ago.

“Good girl,” Jack grins, patting the cat between her too big ears. “Oh, hey, guys! Did you sleep well?”

“Please, shut up,” Tyler grunts and promptly clamps his palm over his forehead. “My head is killing me.”

Josh can only see Tyler’s brown fluffy hair sticking out of the pile of blankets.

“Josh, take your angry burrito home,” Jack says, nodding at Tyler and then leaving the room.

“Yeah, yes.” Josh rubs his eyes and yawns.

It takes good ten minutes to set Tyler free from his warm cocoon; he looks dazedly at his unbuttoned pants and then at Josh but leaves his questions to himself.

 

***

“Ashley, I think I fell in love but kinda refuse to accept it,” Josh announces as he enters his sisters’ room.

It’s the day after the party, and Josh can’t find the words to describe his current state. His empathy probably catches the vibes of Tyler’s hangover.

“Does Tyler know that you’re going to friendzone him till the end of his life?” Ashley raises her perfectly-shaped eyebrows, typing something furiously in her laptop.

Josh sits on the edge of her bed, wanting to end the conversation before Abby or Jordan will get a chance to torment him with their annoying questions.

“Why do you think it’s about Tyler?”

“Because. It’s always about Tyler,” Ashley says.

Josh sucks at his pierced lip, thinking. No, it couldn’t be so obvious.

“Well, if _theoretically_ , it’s about him, what should I do?” he feels like he steps over his own dignity, asking his younger sister for advice, but whatever.

At least, he isn’t going to tell her he’s been thinking of Tyler while jerking off nearly every night this week.

“Don’t let yourself choke in that closet. That’s all I can say,” Ashley turns back to her laptop while Josh tries to stomach her words.

 

***

“Hey, Ty!”

Josh doesn’t count how many times he stumbles as he runs down the school hallway to catch Tyler at the end of it.

“Hey, Josh!” Tyler smiles so wide Josh can notice tiny dimples on his cheeks. 

“Wanna go out today?” Josh curls his fingers around the strap of his backpack nervously. “Like. A date,” he adds.

“Wow,” Tyler’s facial expression is a mix of happiness and bewilderment. “I’d like to, but I have to go to a basketball practice today?..  Jesus, I hate that,” he complains.

“I’ll meet you by the bleachers behind the school,” Josh decides. “Deal?”

“Deal. Can’t wait,” Tyler nods cheerfully.

 

***

Josh curses himself non-stop, running towards the field with the speed of light. He’s about to be late, and it’s all because of that stupid Biology test he had to finish when the bell was already ringing. Josh speeds up, overcoming the last few feet and thinking up a bunch of apologies to melt Tyler’s heart.

Though, he promptly forgets all the beautiful words he was going to say as he realizes that something disturbing is happening beside the bleachers.

He told Tyler to wait him there.

This was probably the stupidest decision Josh has ever made in his life.

He breaks out in a cold sweat as he sees Tyler being restrained by the two of his teammates as the other typical jock keeps landing punches all over Tyler’s face and torso.

“Let him go!” Josh shouts, tossing his backpack on the ground and jumping on Tyler’s insulter before he hits Tyler again.

“Josh, no!” Tyler cries out and jerks forward, out of the dudes’ captivity.

Tyler’s nose and his busted lip are bleeding, red crust covers his chin, some of the mess is smeared all over his dark sweatshirt. Josh’s nose crunches and begins to bleed, too, when the dude punches him right in the face.

“Gonna stand up for your faggot friend?”

Josh’s fist slams into the guy’s too big mouth, probably knocking his tooth out — the blood splatters all over Josh’s knuckles, bringing a sick satisfaction.

“Derek, Craig, Get him! Get him!” chants a tall guy with a bleached hair, holding Tyler in a headlock.

There are two pairs of hands tackling Josh to the ground; a well-delivered punch catches him right between his left eye and his nose, squeezing even more blood out of his nostrils.

Josh roars desperately, blocking the blows with his forearms; he’s not that weak, he can definitely kick the jocks’ asses. One of them throws Tyler onto the grass, sitting down onto Tyler’s chest. Josh manages to temporary deactivate a heavy motherfucker Craig, leaving him sprawled on the ground and spitting out blood.

“Max, hold him still. Let’s have some fun,” Derek breathes out, shoving Josh back into the dirt.

Tyler squirms underneath Max, kicking him and huffing while Josh hurries to get up on his feet and help Tyler.

Tyler misses one more smack across his jaw and stiffens underneath his enemy.

“Gonna cry, Joseph?” Max laughs.

“Fuck off,” Tyler hisses out.

“Really? What are you gonna do, princess?” it’s Craig again, he dusts off his shorts and lazily comes to Tyler, crouching down beside him.

Though, Josh promptly elbows Craig’s ribs and forces him to crash down to the ground again; Josh slides on the patch of grass and rushes to Tyler to release him from Max’s grip. Josh manages to clip Max’s chin with his fist as Derek grabs at the laces on Tyler’s black baggy sweatpants and begins to untie them.

“Let’s check what he has there,” Craig’s face splits into a shit-eating grin.

“Get your fucking hands off me,” Tyler howls, kind of distracting an aggressive Craig and letting Josh greet him with his bruised fist.

“You’re gonna get used to be undressed by the guys, Joseph,” Derek says with an obnoxious smirk.

“But you’re not even a guy,” Tyler spits, shoving his knee into Derek’s stomach while Max tries to twist his hands again.

“I bet you don’t even have the balls,” Josh says mockingly.

This makes the dudes promptly forget about Tyler.

Josh is so busy landing punches left and right and getting kicks from both Craig and a reckless Derek; he physically can’t control everything. Tyler manages to peel himself off the ground and tries to run to Josh, but Max’s hand snatches the hood of Tyler’s sweatshirt and yanks him backwards, making Tyler lose the balance and sway sideways.

In slow-motion, Josh sees the side of Tyler’s head hitting the bleachers with a thud, a red trickle smears down the metal plank as Tyler falls down, his chest hits his own duffel bag lying there abandoned.

“Tyler?!” Josh is lost in the haze of terror; he ignores his probably broken nose as he watches a motionless Tyler beside the bleachers.

 _‘God, he should’ve stayed in the gym,’_ a thought swirls around Josh’s crumbling mind.

“What the fuck, Max?” Craig spits out a long string of red saliva. “What if he’s fucking dead?!”

“I dunno,” Max’s bottom lip wobbles as he speaks. He slightly kicks Tyler’s shoulder with the toe of his sneaker, not earning a reaction.

“Let’s go,” Derek orders, uncurling his fingers from the collar of Josh’s ripped t-shirt.

Josh sits up so quickly his vision blurs at the edges as he lurches forward, crawling to Tyler like a spider; he hears Craig, Max and Derek run away from the field, cursing Tyler for his existence.

“Hey?” Josh presses his wrist to his swollen nose not to drip the blood all over Tyler’s face.

The wound on Tyler’s temple is bleeding profusely, a pained moan escapes his chapped lips as Josh touches the ugly bruise already blooming all around the broken skin.

Josh feels sick to his stomach at the sight of blood on Tyler’s hair, on his neck, on the trampled grass and even on the wooden bench. Josh isn’t sure if he can move Tyler while he’s unconscious; he promptly wipes his teary eyes and takes his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. The screen is covered with a cobweb of cracks so Josh can barely see the number of the ambulance he’s dialing.

 

***

Their parents arrive at the hospital almost at the same time, when Josh is still sitting in the waiting room with an icepack over his broken nose. He’s gotten cleaned up, but the itchy skin under the nose splint still feels gross. Josh’s Mom just gasps as she sees him. Josh tries his best to explain them what happened, but his tongue betrays him, turning the words into a messy stuttering.

“I’m proud of you, Joshua,” Josh’s Dad suddenly says.

Tyler’s mother is visibly shaking, her pale cheeks are tear-streaked. She holds Tyler’s duffel bag and his blood-stained sweatshirt. Josh hopes Tyler’s still strict parents aren’t going to throw a tantrum there.

“Nice shiner, Josh,” Tyler comments with a quiet giggle as Josh enters the hospital ward along with Mr. and Mrs. Joseph.

“Yours is more colorful,” Josh tries to joke, avoiding an eye contact with his injured friend.

Tyler looks too skinny and helpless with a layer of bandages wrapped over his head, he’s certainly dizzy due to concussion and high on the painkillers.

“How are you feeling, son?” Tyler’s father asks, sitting on the chair beside Tyler’s bed.

Tyler flinches at the sound of his voice and begins to rub the fingerprints-bruises on his forearms like he wants to make them disappear from his skin.

“Better than an hour ago, I guess. I’m sorry, I’m not the strongest player in my team,” there’s a good amount of sarcasm in Tyler’s statement, Josh is afraid this might piss Tyler’s father off.

“I’m personally sorry for letting those idiots knock Tyler out. Don’t be mad _at him_ ,” Josh says nasally. He chews a mint gum to kill a copper taste in his mouth, but it’s not working.

“Boys, no one is going to be mad at you, alright?” Tyler’s Mom coos, pulling Tyler into a hug even though he refuses to hug her back.

“It’s kinda hard to be mad at you guys when one of you has a hole in his head, and the other one looks like a street fighter,” Mr. Joseph concludes.

Josh manages to give him a sour smile that is pretty similar to Tyler’s crooked one.

 

***

After the incident, Tyler’s Dad allows him to stop playing basketball so Tyler can get back to his piano lessons.

One week later, the bruises have almost faded, the bandages and a nose splint are forgotten, but the guilt keeps biting at Josh’s heart.

He shouldn’t treat Tyler like this.

They eventually decide they’re brave enough to have their first sex; a careful and quite awkward one, because Josh can’t just focus on taking pleasure as he slowly thrusts into Tyler. Josh wants to make it feel good for both of them. Tyler’s parents are still at work, his siblings are at school while he and Josh are skipping classes to have some fun.

It doesn’t even last long — a quiet gasp slides off Josh’s bitten lips as he moves his hips for one more time, finally letting the tension in his abdomen untie its knot and leave him lying boneless on top of Tyler. Tyler comes almost silently, spilling all over Josh’s fist and arching his back when Josh gives him a few final strokes through the orgasm.

“Thank you,” Tyler whispers.

“Anytime,” Josh responds with a grin.

Still sticky and sweaty, they’re just lying under the covers and enjoying each other’s presence.

“We haven’t even been on a date yet,” Josh sighs regretfully.

“I think every day we spend together is a date,” Tyler replies, tracing his finger down the pattern of freckles on Josh’s bare shoulder.

“Since we were kids?” Josh frowns mistrustfully.

“Yes, Josh,” Tyler smiles. “Since we were kids.”

**Author's Note:**

> kinda childhood friends au


End file.
